Login Form

• 40 years ago (from The Dundalk Eagle of Feb. 15, 1973): A rash of thefts across the area continued unabated as nine homes were burglarized in Dundalk between Feb. 9 and Feb. 12. The majority of the thefts occured in the Charlesmont and Eastfield-Stanbrook neighborhoods. No suspects were in custody as of press time. A mailbox at Kirtley and Larkfield roads was pried open, and the contents stolen, on Feb. 9. By the time the postal carrier approached the box on Feb. 10, all of the mail from inside the box had disappeared. Delbert Avenue resident and U.S. Postal Service worker Harry A. Wardell was awarded a citation for Driver of the Month by Postmaster Warren M. Bloomberg during a ceremony on Feb. 9. Wardell also received a 15-year Safe Driver Award and Certificate from the National Safety Council. Edgemere Moose Lodge 537 celebrated the induction of 67 new members during a ceremony held at the organization’s headquarters. The new inductees brought the total number of lodge members to just under 4,000. (Edgemere Moose Lodge 537 officially closed its doors in October 2010.)

• 30 years ago (from The Dundalk Eagle of Feb. 10, 1983): The Dundalk Historic Designation Committee submitted an application requesting that the Dundalk Shopping Center and surrounding neighborhoods be added to the National Register of Historic Places. The shopping center was considered appropriate for the list due to its status as one of the first planned urban areas in the nation. (The Dundalk Historic District was added to the National Register in 1985.) Bethlehem Steel Corp. announced plans to cease pipe manufacturing operations at the Sparrows Point mill as of May 1983. The pipe mill was deemed unprofitable due to import competition, domestic competition and high employment costs. The shutdown was expected to impact around 800 employees. (Sold by Bethlehem Steel in 2003, the Sparrows Point steel mill closed for good in June 2012.) Dundalk resident Jeffrey Skelton appeared on WJZ-TV’s “Weekend With the Stars Telethon for Cerebral Palsy” after raising $75 for the cause. The telethon raised a total of $457,000 toward cerebral palsy research. The Mother’s Club of Bethel Christian Academy donated a VHS video tape recorder, video camera, television and cabinet to the school. The equipment was to be used to enhance education at the school.

• 20 years ago (from The Dundalk Eagle of Feb. 11, 1993): Former 7th District delegate and newly appointed District Court judge John Arnick came under fire during confirmation hearings for racist, ethnic and sexist remarks allegedly made during his time in the House of Delegates. Arnick, for his part, did not comment on the accusations. (A short time later, on Feb. 17, Arnick withdrew his name from consideration for the District Court judgeship. He was reappointed to the House of Delegates the following September and served in the House until shortly before his death in 2006.) Due to budget cuts, the Baltimore County Public Library system proposed closing three area libraries in Edgemere, Dundalk and Turner Station. (All three branches, along with others across the county, were closed later in 1993.) Then-Baltimore County Public Schools’ superintendent Stuart Berger toured Norwood Elementary School on Feb. 4. During his visit, he read to students in teacher Gene Ernst’s fourth grade class. Five Ukranian students visited Sparrows Point High School from Jan. 20 to Feb. 1 as part of a Baltimore/Kiev Student Exchange Program. A group of Sparrows Point students were scheduled to study in Kiev, Ukraine from March 26 to April 13.

• 10 years ago (from The Dundalk Eagle of Feb. 13, 2003): Word of the sale of Bethlehem Steel Corp. to International Steel Group was made official as the sale was given the green light on Feb. 8. The mill, however, did not “cruise into a new and prosperous future” as The Eagle hoped at the time. (ISG went on to merge with Mittal Steel in 2005. Mittal later merged with Arcelor to form Arcelor Mittal. In 2008, that company was forced to sell the mill to Russian steelmaker Severstal after antitrust action by the U.S. Department of Justice. Severstal later sold the mill to Renco Group’s RG Steel, the mill’s final operator.) U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger announced support for U.S. action in Iraq, but only if the U.S. went in as part of an international coalition similar to the Gulf War of 1990-1991. Ruppersberger based his position, in part, on reports of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. (A U.S.-led coalition went into Iraq on March 20, 2003. No evidence of weapons of mass destruction was found.) The Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts cheerleading team won the Baltimore County Class 3A/4A cheerleading championship held at the Community College of Baltimore County, Dundalk campus. The team scored 238 out of a possible 270 points. The Knights of Columbus Dundalk Council 2942 presented three local groups with donation checks of $2,267 each. The organizations receiving funds were Battle Monument School, Berkshire-Eastwood Recreation Council’s handicapped program and the Dundalk Medical Center Adult Daycare.